interpreter0831 Interpreter is there
A statement I had trouble translating the other day
“Adolescence for me is, This is when the first person changed from “I” to “me”. “And the moment I felt like an adult was when it changed from ‘me’ to ‘I’.”
marie_824 sorry, that made me laugh so hard! I am curious how it was translated.
interpreter0831 That’s funny. When you said that, my eyes went wide.
I translated while explaining the difference in nuance between me and I… I can’t think of any other way…
You are a linguist, knowledgeable in Japanese and English. Explain following Japanese in English.
For me, puberty is when the first person changed from “I” to “me. The moment I felt I had grown up was when the first person changed from “I” to “me.”
This Japanese sentence translates to:
“For me, adolescence was the period when I shifted from using ‘boku’ to ‘ore’ as my first-person pronoun. And the moment I felt I had become an adult was when I changed from ‘ore’ to ‘watashi’.”
In Japanese, the choice of first-person pronouns (like ‘boku’, ‘ore’, ‘watashi’) reflects the speaker’s identity, social context, and gender norms. ‘Boku’ is typically used by males and is considered more youthful or gentle. ‘Ore’ is also male-centric but has a stronger, more assertive tone, often associated with masculinity and adulthood. ‘Watashi’ is more neutral and formal, used by both genders, especially in polite or formal situations. The speaker’s transition from ‘boku’ to ‘ore’ to ‘watashi’ signifies their personal growth and changing self-perception through different life stages.
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/翻訳困難な一人称の違い using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.